Aquatic life requires underwater structures in order to survive and thrive. Underwater structures provide the foundation for an aquatic ecosystem or aquatic food chain, including a place for vegetation and algae to attach as well as shelter for small crustaceans and aquatic insects. Underwater structures also fill other needs, such as providing spawning grounds, cover for fry, fingerlings, and small fish, as well as providing hiding places for larger fish to ambush an unwary passerby. These various needs require structure at varying depths. A structure that is confined to a single depth may not be able to fill all the needs of an aquatic ecosystem. Without proper underwater structures, the aquatic ecosystem may be missing parts of the food chain resulting in the body of water turning into a virtual desert in which aquatic life becomes scarce or non-existent. Overall, proper underwater structure is an oasis for aquatic life.
The problem of maintaining sufficient underwater structure to support an aquatic ecosystem is especially acute for man-made lakes and reservoirs. As man-made lakes age, the native timber and other inundated structures deteriorate causing a decrease over time in the capacity of the native timber and structures to support aquatic life. This problem is exacerbated by human-induced heavy silt and sludge flows covering the structure that does exist. Eventually, the structure becomes ineffective to support aquatic life which eventually results in a decrease of all aquatic life, including game fish.
A different problem that exists is the billions of used automobile and truck tires that litter the landscape and take up volume in innumerable land fills. These tires become a breeding ground for insects and vermin and have a negative impact on the quality of life in the area.
The present invention provides a solution to mitigate the negative impact of both the lack of underwater structures in bodies of water and the blight of discarded tires. The invention uses old tires or similar-shaped refuse, such as plastic bottle carriers, to form various underwater structures. The structures are preferably constructed of discarded tires connected tread-to-tread to form upright arrays of vertically-oriented tires. In another preferred embodiment, horizontally-oriented tires are spaced apart along PVC piping or along a flexible member to form an upright array. The PVC supported array is also suitable for laying on its side on the bottom of a body of water.
A tire, or other similar structure, typically has a cavity that is formed by the upper and lower sidewalls and the treadwall of the tire. A tire, or other similar structure, also has an aperture formed by the sidewalls of the tire. For a tire, or other structure, oriented vertically, i.e., in the same orientation as a tire would be if attached to the rim of a wheel on a car to transfer the rotational energy of the axle of the car to the road, the cavity is downwardly opening for the upper half of the tire or structure and upwardly opening for the lower half of the tire or structure. For a tire, or other structure, oriented horizontally, i.e., laying flat on the ground, the cavity of the tire, or other structure, is inwardly opening.
Each of these structures include a buoyant material and an anchor. The anchor acts to fix the structure to the bottom of a body of water, such as a lake bed. The buoyant material is dispersed within the structure so that the structure maintains a vertical, upright orientation to the lake bed and does not sink and lay flat on the bottom. The combination of anchor and buoyancy provides a structure that will not be subject to movement along the bottom of the body of water due to currents while maintaining a generally upright structure so that fish and other aquatic life can gain the benefits of the structure at whatever depth of water they choose to inhabit.
The structures can be of varying length, size, and shape, such as: a single tire; a linear array of tires connected together; a linear array of tires held together in a spaced-apart manner; a planar array of tires; a three or four sided pyramid; a cube; or virtually any other three-dimensional structure. Furthermore, the structure can incorporate other materials such as small trees or other natural vegetation as well as man-made material. The linear or planar array of tires can be constructed so that all of the tires are uniformly oriented, i.e., the aperture of the tires in the array all face the same direction. Conversely, the linear or planar array of tires can be constructed so that select tires are rotated ninety degrees so that the aperture of the rotated tires face in a direction normal to the direction of the non-rotated tires in the array.
The buoyant material is preferably a used plastic beverage container, such as a two-liter soda bottle, although other sizes can be used effectively. The buoyant material is preferably placed in the cavity of the tire formed by the two sidewalls and the tread. The buoyant material may be secured in the cavity ov the tire by any suitable means, such as tape, wire, or rope.
Two-liter soda bottles are manufactured to withstand internal pressurization from the soda and these bottles will tolerate some abuse without tearing or bursting thereby making them an ideal buoyant device. For the present invention, the soda bottle can preferably be charged with pressurized gas to prevent the soda bottle from collapsing due to the pressure of the water surrounding the bottle when the artificial underwater habitat is deployed at depth.
In order to charge the soda bottle, or other container, with pressurized gas, a hole is drilled in the center of the plastic cap to the soda bottle and a flexible circular disk gasket with an eccentric hole is inserted in the cap. The hole in the cap must not align with the hole in the gasket. The gasket is preferably cut from a discarded medium-weight inner tube, although any similar type of material that can function in a similar manner will suffice. The cap and gasket is screwed onto the container and a pressurized gas is admitted to the container via a nozzle through the hole in the cap. The gasket flexes to allow the pressurized gas to enter the container. When the nozzle is removed, the gasket flexes back to make contact with the inside surface of the cap. Since the hole in the cap and the hole in the gasket are not aligned, the pressure of the gas in the container maintains the gasket against the inside surface of the cap thereby sealing the pressurized gas in the container. Other means of providing buoyancy to the structure are also contemplated, such as styrofoam, bubble wrap, or air trapped within the cavity of the tire.
The anchor is preferably concrete, concrete block, or can be comprised of a discarded one-gallon plastic jar, such as the type manufactured as a bulk food container, filled with sand or concrete. The anchor is preferably deployed in the cavity of the tire but may be connected externally to the tire by a flexible member such as a wire, nylon, or hemp rope, chain, or plastic connector, or by a rigid member such as PVC pipe. Another preferred anchor is comprised of wire mesh and gravel. The tire is horizontally-oriented and the wire mesh is fitted within the tire so as to cover the aperture formed by the annulus of the lower sidewall of the tire. Gravel is then placed on the wire mesh and is constrained on the bottom by the wire mesh and on the sides by the tread of the tire. In addition to providing ballast, the gravel also provides a spawning site for certain species of fish.
The structure of the present invention is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to fabricate and deploy, is extremely durable, and will maintain its integrity for many decades. The structure will deploy in an upright position on the bottom. Even with silting and bottom sedimentation, this type of structure will continue to provide a viable habitat until completely covered, which will take decades. It is expected that fish, crustacean, aquatic insects and other organisms will concentrate on and around this type of structure. Waste materials produced by these creatures should concentrate organic matter on the bottom and, over time, serve to enhance aquatic plant growth, thereby increasing the oxygen supply available in waters surrounding the structure.
The configuration of a structure of the present invention will allow fish of all sizes to move up and down the height of the structure seeking their xe2x80x9ccomfort zonexe2x80x9d in regard to water temperature, available oxygen, forage, plant growth, and other variables. As a structure ages, and more organisms attach to it, an increase of plant life and small organisms will provide hatchlings more cover and forage required for survival.
The structure may be deployed as a single unit or in xe2x80x9cpodsxe2x80x9d ranging from two units to hundreds of units. Preferably, a relatively small number of pods should be deployed in strategic locations throughout the body of water rather than concentrating a large number pods in any single location to more effectively scatter aquatic life around the body of water and thereby xe2x80x9cseedxe2x80x9d the body of water with a number of ecosystems to more rapidly increase the population of aquatic life.
The prior art has attempted to solve the problem of underwater structure with varying results. Some prior art attempts have used discarded tires. However, each attempt has either failed to provide a relatively permanent structure in an array with buoyancy so as to provide support for an ecosystem through differing depths, use discarded tires, or be simple to construct and deploy.
For example, the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,779 to Fussell is an underwater habitat by using plates or discs that must be manufactured from a buoyant material rather than using discarded tires. An anchor is provided with a line that attaches to the center of each of the plates thereby requiring that the plates be manufactured identically so as not to cause the structure to be unbalanced. Additionally, the construction of the Fussell device limits those devices to a single vertical structure that cannot be joined to form any type of array.
The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,058 to Parker, et al. (xe2x80x9cParkerxe2x80x9d), is a structure for harvesting stone crabs and is not intended to be a permanent structure to support an aquatic life ecosystem or food chain. When deployed, the Parker device collapses on the bottom of the body of water with the tires horizontally oriented and stacked one on top of the other. No buoyant means is provided within the device. Since the Parker device is deployed on the bottom of the body of water, it cannot support an aquatic ecosystem at differing depths. Additionally, a buoy must be attached to the top of the Parker device to enable the device to be found and hauled to the surface for harvesting and cleaning. The upper sidewall of each of the tires in the device is preferably removed to facilitate harvesting and cleaning operations. The construction of the Parker device, as with the Fussell device, constrains the device to a single stack of tires and does not allow for an array of devices to be constructed.
The devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,325 and 5,807,023, both to Krenzler are an artificial reef and beach stabilizer that rest on the bottom of a body of water. Each device is constructed from discarded tires that have their sidewalls cut. The ""023 device includes corrodible iron inserts, such as nails or staples. Neither the ""325 or the ""023 device contain any buoyancy and therefore neither can be constructed in upright arrays extending vertically from the bottom of the body of water. Nor does either device transcend a wide range of depths and thus cannot support an aquatic ecosystem at differing depths.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obviate many of the above problems in the prior art and to provide a novel artificial underwater habitat.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel artificial underwater habitat that is ballasted to rest on the bottom of a body of water and is held substantially upright by buoyancy integral to the habitat.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel artificial underwater habitat using discarded tires.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel artificial underwater habitat in the form of a linear array of tires.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel artificial underwater habitat in the form of a planar array of tires.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a novel artificial underwater habitat that will be easily deployed so that the habitat will maintain the proper orientation upon settling at the bottom of a body of water.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novel sealed container of pressurized gas to provide a buoyant force to an artificial underwater habitat
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.